Featured works: "Epistola, Cantata For Soli, Choir And Orchestra" and "Arc-En-Cello, Concerto For Cello And Orchestra." Performed by: Claudia Barainski, soprano; Marjana Lipovsek, mezzo-soprano; Robin Leggate, tenor; Ralf Lukas, bass; Ilia Laporev, cello Choeur Philharmonique Tchèque, Brno/Petr Fiala Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Emmanuel Krivine. "This new recording, with Emmanuel Krivine conducting the Luxembourg Philharmonic, brings together two major works, Ivo Malec's most recent, written in 2003 and 2006 for large ensembles. Although the title of the concerto Arc-En-Cello refers to a world of unlimited colors, it also pays tribute to that 'mysterious' instrument the cello -- whose amazing spectrum corresponds perfectly to that of the human voice, male and female combined, its body penetrated by the bow, which tills it, making it cry out or swirl, if not live and sing, and inviting us to reflect. The sound that emerges from it would than seek neither 'dialogue' nor 'partnership' but fusion! Epistola, whose musical language is quite similar to that of Arc-En-Cello, is, however, far removed from it in terms of source and dimensions, ambitions and form. The composer wrote as follows: 'Ten years ago, I was able to read the Latin text (in French translation) of a deeply moving letter sent in 1522 to Pope Adrian VI by the eminent Croatian poet and humanist Marko Marulic. In it, he implored the pontiff's help in holding out against the invasion of the Turks, who had arrived at the gates of his native city. The veritable shock that the reading of this text provoked in me stemmed from the obvious parallel between Marulic's description of the horrors of this invasion and the one that my country of origin had undergone during the war in the 1990s. Even though the spiritual content and literary form of this Epistola did not necessarily suggest setting it to music, the musician in me heard the 'sound' straightaway.' Affected from the moment he read it, the composer nonetheless let the idea mature for ten years before deciding to write, starting from this text whose topicality was still just as burning, a vast score. To give a necessary dramaturgy to this 45-minute work, its various parts, sometimes of torrential violence, are counterbalanced by frequent moments of calm or sudden transparencies. Maintaining the Latin, the whole is composed like a succession of varied presences ranging from solo to quartet, from a cappella, or even accompanied, chorus, to large tutti with orchestra. The latter, quite active moreover, provides the musical discourse with a constant envelope and is at times the sole actor. The work ends with the words 'pacis amor,' the real source of inspiration for Ivo Malec's Espistola."